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What makes a great garden a real celebrity? You
know a garden has delivered all that’s demanded
by the red carpet when it is the only thing visitors
want to talk about.
One sure way for your garden to grab the limelight
is through color design. Your favorite color palette
can evoke moods in your garden from contemplative
to rousing when you follow a few simple design
principles.
Your first choice is whether your color scheme
will be harmonious or dramatic, or somewhere in
between. Harmonious color schemes rely on “adjacent”
colors – the hues that lie between two primary
colors. In fact, those hues (called secondary
colors) are made from a mix of primary colors.
For example, violet is made of blue and red; orange
of red and yellow; and green of yellow and blue.
In the range of harmonious colors between blue
and red are blue-violet and red-violet.
If you opt for drama, then you want to use complementary
colors – those colors that are opposite each
other on the color wheel. The pairs include red/green,
yellow/purple, and blue/orange.
Choice number two is whether you want warm
colors or cool colors. Warm colors – red,
orange and yellow – advance toward the viewer,
while cool colors – green, blue and violet
– retreat. In a small garden, cool colors
can make the space appear larger. A progression
of warm colors at the front of the garden giving
way to cool colors at the back can also reinforce
the illusion of spaciousness.
Lastly, color has both value and intensity. Value
describes the darkness or lightness of a color;
intensity describes whether it is vivid or dull.
A vivid color mixed with white becomes a tone
or pastel. Vivid colors bolster drama and pastels
support calmness.
White flowers can be used freely in harmonious
color schemes and as a way to “tone down”
dramatic ones.
Here are some suggestions for winning plant combinations:
Spring – March through May:
These groupings contain plants ranging from four
to 30 inches in height. Bulb and perennial plantings
benefit from the lushness provided by annuals.
All combinations are suitable for Zones 3-8.
For full sun:
Grouping 1 (Harmonious): Pink creeping phlox,
white Bellis (English daisy), peach Tulip ‘Beauty
Queen,’ white Tulip Fosteriana ‘Purissima,’
and pink or violet Pansies
Grouping 2 (Dramatic): Yellow Allium ‘Moly,’
red Hyacinth ‘Jan Bos,’ yellow with
red stripes Tulip ‘Keizerskroon,’ and
blue Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’
Grouping 3 (Dramatic): Scarlet peony ‘ Felix
Crousse,’ white with red strips Tulip Double
Late ‘Carnival De Nice,’ red Bellis
(English daisy), blue Myosotis ‘Blue Ball’
(Forget-me-not), and white Myosotis ‘White
Ball’
Grouping 4 (Harmonious): Blue Muscari (Grape
Hyacinth), Hyacinth ‘Delft Blue,’ pink
Hyacinth ‘Anne Marie,’ white Daffodil
‘Mt. Hood,’ white with red Tulip Triumph
‘Leen Van der Mark,’ and purple Tulip
Triumph ‘Negrita’
Grouping 5 (Harmonious): Yellow with orange Daffodil
‘Fortissimo,’ Ranunculus ‘Yellow
Tecelote,’ Ranunculus ‘Red Tecelote,’
yellow Viola, and Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald
and Gold’
For partial shade:
Grouping 1 (Harmonious): Pink Digitalis (Foxglove),
white Dicentra spectabilis ‘Alba,’ dark
burgundy Heuchera ‘Chocolate Ruffles,’
pink Geranium ‘Sanguineum,’ red Phlox
‘Starfire,’ and pink Primroses
Summer - June through September
Summer-blooming bulbs and perennials make gardening
ever easier as they repeat their bloom and multiply
year after year. Annuals add to the tapestry of
color. These groupings are taller – up to
four feet – and suitable for Zones 3-8.
For sun:
Grouping 1 (Dramatic): Pink Echinacea purpurea
‘Magnus,’ white Echinacea ‘White
Swan,’ blue Salvia nemorosa ‘May Night,’
pink Sedum ‘Autumn Joy,’ yellow Daylily
‘Hyperion,’ and Phlox ‘Blue Paradise’
For partial shade:
Grouping 1 (Harmonious): White Astilbe ‘Diamond,’
lavender Astilbe ‘Hyacinth,’ pink Peony
‘Bowl of Beauty,’ pink Asiatic Lily
‘Chianti,’ white Chrysanthemum parthenium
(Feverfew), and pink and white Impatiens
Let these suggestions be a springboard for your
own imagination. Mixing plants to create pleasing
and surprising combinations encompasses much of
the fun of gardening. And since a garden is a
living, changing environment, you can always alter
it later as your mood and needs change.
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